Bonum Certa Men Certa

FFII and End Software Patents (ESP) Respond to Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) Regarding Software Patentability

Anti software patents
India too is fighting against software patents



Summary: Responses to a referral which was intended to help determine whether or not software algorithms should be patentable in Europe

THE output of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) was covered here 3 times last week [1, 2, 3], but we have found no formal statement from the FFII, until now (full press release appended at the bottom):

Brimelow Referral on software patents dismissed: 'time for the legislator to take over'



Munich, 13 May 2010 -- The highest appeal chamber of the European Patent Office, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA), has decided on patents for computer programs. The questions on point of law from President Brimelow were decided to be "inadmissible" under Article 112(1)(b) EPC. It chided the President for bothering the board with her questions. For such requests Alison Brimelow was recommended to ask her legal staff.


The FSF-funded End Software Patents (ESP) initiative calls it a "good result":

An unexpected, good result: after more than a year and a half of review (referral G3/08), the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal has declared that the four questions posed were all inadmissible. The patent office is thus does not have the power to decide for itself whether or not software should be patentable.


Here is IDG's coverage (not IDG in Europe) and the post which Groklaw chose as its reference analysis:

If you believe that no news is good news, then 3/08 is wonderful news because the 61-page decision found the referral inadmissible and, therefore, declined to reach the merits. It's an interesting (if non-committal) read, and some of the questions raised are fascinating. Consider the following: "Must a claimed feature cause a technical effect on a physical entity in the real world in order to contribute to the technical character of the claim?" Great question--but the EPO Enlarged Court of Appeal declined to consider this one and all of the others.


The decision in Europe is very important because it represents an attempt to expand software patents beyond the United States (and Japan, among perhaps a few more countries). It's an attempt to change the tide in the same way that the DMCA broke loose after heavy lobbying from Hollywood. Europe is a key checkpoint to them, but it's a tough nut to crack because Europe cannot be blackmailed, unlike poorer regions.

The following video from Taiwan (May 2005) shows Richard Stallman theorising that Microsoft is trying to pass software patents in other countries before litigiously attacking Linux in order not to reduce the chances of legalising software patents (Germany has just approved the FAT patent from Microsoft and it affects the EU-based TomTom).

[an error occurred while processing this directive]



Here is the audio version of this talk.



Skip to 1(hr):25(min) to hear Stallman talk about Microsoft and software patents. As mentioned earlier today, Stallman also notes that Microsoft is a criminal company that was convicted 3 times and should therefore not be supported by governments. All in all, this is a very good delivery without interruptions or awkward pauses. It is calm and well focused.




Brimelow Referral on software patents dismissed: "time for the legislator to take over"



Munich, 13 May 2010 -- The highest appeal chamber of the European Patent Office, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA), has decided on patents for computer programs. The questions on point of law from President Brimelow were decided to be "inadmissible" under Article 112(1)(b) EPC. It chided the President for bothering the board with her questions. For such requests Alison Brimelow was recommended to ask her legal staff.

The EBoA also looked into the substance but felt not competent to define a key term as "technical". The board prefers a legislator to decide patentability of computer programs: "…a presidential referral is not admissible merely because the European Parliament and Council have failed to adopt a directive on CII patenting …When judiciary-driven legal development meets its limits, it is time for the legislator to take over".

FFII welcomes the spirit of the decision. "The European Parliament should now ask for a new directive for harmonization. Five years ago the European Commission and leading members of the European Parliament suggested that", explains FFII president Benjamin Henrion.

"The referral was overshadowed by institutional politics", adds André Rebentisch, the FFII general secretary. "The Board had to reject it for formality reasons, as recommended by Prof. Joseph Straus. Still I found the initiative of Alison Brimelow very fruitful. She restarted a technical debate over patenting rules for computer programs. The amount, diversity and quality of the third party statements, together with the length of the final decision are telling. We ought to continue a broad and open exchange of views."



Links

Opinion of the Enlarged Board of Appeal and press release by the EPO:
http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2010/20100512.html

FFII Page about the Referral on the question of software patents (G03/08):
http://www.ffii.org/EPOReferral

Third party statements on G03/08 (Amicus Curiae Briefs):
http://www.epo.org/patents/appeals/eba-decisions/pending/briefs.html

Hartmut Pilch comments for the EUPAT WG:


http://eupat.ffii.org/10/05/eba/

Permanent link to this press release:
https://press.ffii.org/Press%20releases/Brimelow_Referral_dismissed

Contact

Benjamin Henrion
FFII Brussels
+32-484-56 61 09 (mobile)


bhenrion at ffii.org
(French/English)

About FFII

The FFII is a not-for-profit association registered in twenty European countries, dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, open standards. More than 1000 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025